that term—or on the Bart of the Government ;
with manifest superiority in numbers, in finan
cial resources, and in military and naval power;
with the entire breaking up of all armed forces
in the South ; with the object accomplished so
long desired by the North, and the source of
all the irritation in the nation—the removal of
slavery ; with victory after victory on the side
of the Government, there has , been, neverthe
less, no exultation; there has been no boast
ing; there have been no triumphal processions;
there have been nopublic thanksgivings, nor
will there be to-day, for victory as such, or that
the authors of the rebellion have been con
quered, but only that the Union has been pre
served, and the country saved. Rome pro
claimed ovations to returning victors, with a
parade of the spoils of war; with princes led
as captives ; with the banners of distant nations
subdued, displayed in the procession ; with
music and shouts of triumph:—we have pro
claimed none. The men made i m mortal as
the result of victory have returned to their
peaceful homes, with not even the thanks of
i
the nation presented to them n a public man
ner. Not one of the rebel leaders has been
led forth an object of curiosity to be exhibited,
as at Rome, to the gaze and taunts of as
sembled thousands. Not one has yet been
executed ; not one has yet been put on trial
for treason. Nay, more, a proclamation of
amnesty, wide as the heart of benevolence
could desire, and as the safety of the nation
would bear, has been proclaimed to the rebel
lious, and the kindest provisions have been
proposed for the re-admission of the rebel
States again to honorable relations to the
Government. In no nation before has such a
proclamation of amnesty been made; in no
nation would it have been regarded as safe to
do it. Whether it is wise or not, is not the
que stion before us. Whether punishment
s hould not be inflicted on the leaders of such a
rebellion, is not the point on which I am now
remarking: Whether the very leader of the
armies =of the rebellion ; the man who more
than, once aimed a direct blow at the capital of
the nation ; who led forth great armies of
rebels to invade the peaceful States of ,the
Union, and who conducted great bates in
which thousands and tens, of thousands of the
sons of the North were slain, and who submit
tedat last, Only because superior military
genius, and stronger military power compelled
him to submit—whether such a man should
escape the punishment clue to treason, and
should be placed at the head of a literary insti
tution to be the example, the instructor, and the
guide of the patriot youths of the nation is a
point on which men will form their own
opinions, but is not the point on which I am
remarking.. Yet what would the world have
said if Aaron Burr or Benedict Arnold had
been made President of Nassau Hall, or if the
Duke of Monmouth had been made Chancellor
of the University of Oxford? I am speaking
only of the facts now adverted to as fitted to
command the admiration or the wonder of the
world, and as adapted to show to the erring
and the guilty South that there is no malevo
lence or desire of revenge in the bosoms of
their conquerers.
As an illustration of the changes which have
occurred in the world in little less than two
hundred years ; as marking the characteristics
of these times as contrasted with times past; as
descriptive of the state of things in our nation,
and of what may safely occur under a republic
as contrasted with what is deemed necessary
under a monarchy in a rebellion; and as being
especially edifying and suggestive to our Bri
tish brethren in the views which they are dis
posed to take of us and of our affairs, it may
not be improper to recall to the mind of the
student of history the strong contrast which has
occurred in relation to this rebellion and the
rebellion in England under James the Second,
by the Duke of Monmouth. That was, com
pared with this, a small affair. A few thousand
—not more than six in all—composed of those
who landed on the Western Coast of England,
and of those that were gathered together, armed
mostly with scythes and old swords and a . s,
with a few pieces of artillery, made war o
_.4
English Government. At Sedge Moor ,- tl
were easily overthrown and scattered. But '
occasion was regarded as one on which But
=
of the bloodiest, the most tyrannical,
the mosreavage, the most unfeeling and cruel
man that ever sat on a bench of justice were
deemed especially appropriate to carry out the
purposes of a not less relenting and implacable
master. I cannot better show the contrast be:
tween those times and these; between a mon
archy and a republic ; between, shall I say,
England and our own country, than by copying
a few sentences selected from the interesting
narrative in Macauley's History of England.
After an extended statement of the trials and
executions elsewhere, he says, " Somersetshire,
the chief seat of the rebellion, had been re
served for the last and most fearful revenge.
In this county two hundred and thirty-three
prisoners were in a few days hanged, drawn,
and quartered. At every spot where two roads
met, on every marketplace, on the green! of
every large village which had furnished,Mpn
mouth with soldiers, ironed corpses clattering
in the wind, or heads and quarters stuck on
poles, poisoned the air and made the traveler
sick with horror. In many parishes the pea
santry could not assemble in the house of God
without seeing the ghastly face of a neighbor
grinning at them over the porch."* Such in
England. How different in the United States.
Surely, whatever demands may be properly
made for severer justice than has yet been
executed, we may find occasion this day for
thanksgiving in the contrast between the con
duct of England and our own Government, and
of those times and ours ; and eminently in the
fact that our Government—our instatutiens—
our Republic—will admit of a clemency that
would have been fatal in other times and lands,
and that order and confidence can be restored
without the disgusting exhibition on the cross
roads, and in the market-towns, of men hung in
chains!
IV. A fourth reason.for thanksgiving may be
derived from the fact that in this conflict we
have secured the respect of the world, and
shall henceforth occupy a higher place among
the nations of the earth.
Foreighty years, indeed, we have been making
advances in this in our growth; in our resour
ces ; our commerce ; in our schools and
systems of education ; in the working of our
civil institutions ; in the effects of the volun
tary system of religion ; in our rapid improve
ments ; in our general peace and order; in
our freedom from pauperism and crime ; and
in our character for justice in our intercourse
with foreign powers. There was no country to
which the masses of men in other lands looked
with so much hope as a land of liberty, and as
an asylum from hard labor, oppressive laws,
and heavy tazations ; and there was no land to
which the tide of emigration was Bowing in so
broad and rapid a stream. We needed not any
demonstration of our military and naval power
to secure the respect and the confidence of the
"masses of people in foreign lands.
But the remark which I am now making has
respect not so much to the people as to the
rulers and to the governments of the Old
World. The results of this war will be to in-
spire them, even against the wishes of many of
them, with a degree of respect which they never
cherished, and which they secretly hoped there
would be no occasion to cherish, for our coma
tri•
(a) This is true in respect to our mode of
government; to republican institutions. For
reasons that are obvious, : and that have been
alluded to already, the governments of the Old
World had desired not to cherish respect for
this form of government, and had hoped that
the result of the war would be such as to show
that their anticipations in regard to it were well
founded. The idea there has been that sta
bility, energy, and permanence are connected
with monarehy, and with hereditarysovereignty;
that a republic must be weak as a government,
and must be of short duration. In support of
this, as already remarked, they , referred to the
past history of republics, and inferred that the
great principle had been settled by them for
*lliAory of &gland, Vol. r, Pp. 596,597.
THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, TFIURSDAY, DECEMBER .21, 1865.
ever, that a republic could not be stable and
enduring.
Hence it was that our mother country was so
much disposed to recognize the Southern Con
federacy, and that it was anticipated that that
readiness would be participated in by all the
nations of Europe. The day had come when
the experiment of republican government had
resulted as they had predicted and desired it
would. The Republic had baffled their hopes,
and falsified their prophecies for eighty years ;
but now, to their view, its weakness, its insta
bility, its want of permanent cohesion in the
parts, was to be demonstrated. The most for
midable insurrection ever known, had been
or ganized, and it had sheen proclaimed in the
highest seat of authority that there was no
power in the General Government, as provided
for in the Constitution, to "coerce revolted
States." What could have been more gratify
ing to the friends of despotism; to the enemies
of republican institutions ; to the rivals and the
secret enemies of our country ? A bright day
dawned on the old despotisms of Europe when
the great Republic of the West was in fact rent
in twain, and when, also, it was only a question
of time whether that division would be per
manent, and the Southern Confederacy could
be properly recognized—whatever might be
come of the North.
That hope has vanished. The government
of this nation, resting on the faith and patriot.
ism of the people, has displayed an energy, a
power, an ability, in the Cabinet, on the ocean,
and in the field, such as has never been shown
under a monarchical system of government in
any land or at any time. Four years—four
years that seem now to have passed like a
dream—ended the conflict here. How long
was it in the "wars of the Roses" before the
conflict ceased, and the government settled
down on its former basis? How long was it
from the meeting of the "Long Parliament"
till the restoration of Charles IL ? What power,
compared with this, did France under Louis
INTL., evince to suppress the insurrection in
that land ? Even with large standing armies ;
with the prestige of old authority; with the ac
cumulated power of ages, what government, I
repeat, in such times has ever evinced an energy,
a power, a degree of stability like the Govern
ment of this Republic in the late insurrection?
Not for one day, or hour, or moment have the
functions of the Government been stayed. The
Congress has met; the courts have held their
sessions; the revenue has been collected; the
interests of justice have been administered; the
operations of agriculture, of manufactures, of
commerce, of the churches, the schools, the
colleges—have moved on as calmly and as
quietly as in the most peaceful days of the Re
public. The Government never was firmer ;
never had a more certain prospect of endur
ance; and such a government, even against all
the cherished hopes of foreign powers, will se
cure the respect of the world.
(b) It is equally true that we have command
ed the respect of foreign nations in regard to
our military and naval position before the
world. There were mistakes and reverses in
the conduct of the war, as in what war have
there not been mistakes and reverses ? There
were dark times—times that filled all our hearts
with gloomy forebodings, and that called us
with burdened souls to our places of worship
for prayer and humiliation. There have been
incompetent men entrusted with the command
of our armies—men of little or no military ex
perience; men who had had•no military train
ing; men who supposed in regard to themselves
that civilians could be transformed at will to
Marlboroughs and Welingtons, or that men
called from the plough would be necessarily
like Cincinnatus or Cromwell; men who had
little zeal for the country ; men whose hearts
were divided between the North and the South,
if not men whose hearts and hopes were wholly
with the South; men who were intemperate,
and men who were cowards—but in what great
wars have not things of this kind pcdurred ?
And there• were raw and inexperienced troops
who fled in wild dismay before the enemy—but
in what wars has not this also happened?
But if thiS has been so ; and if events con
nected with these facts have exposed us to the
derision or the contempt of the world, there
have been men also who have placed their
names beside those of the great captains of the
world., and who in military genius have shown
that they have equalled the most illustrious of
those men. There have been armies—great
armies—who in drill, and discipline, and order,
and firmness, and courage, have equalled the
most disciplined veterans of the old world, and
who have accomplished what would have given
honor to the beat armies of France or England
—to the heroes of Marengo or Wagram—to
Blenheim or Waterloo.
We were not a military people. We had one
military school, and a skeleton of — an army.
Bat assuredly the nations of the earth, if they
did not do it betore, have learned to respect a
people that could in a brief period bring into
the field, and equip, and discipline an army of
men that could suppress an insurrection that
had itself summoned into the field more than
half a million of men, and that, when it was
supposed they had nothing—no armories, or
arsenals, or forges for the manufacture of arms,
but who yet furnished themselves with all the
materials of war with almost the rapidity with
which Milton's fallen angels forged cannon,
and compounded gunpowder, and that seemed
Like those angels to have extracted it all from
the earth. The North had at the close of the
*at :Under arms more than a million of men
efganized to make war on almost an equal
number, and which, with a rapidity and a com
pleteness, when the arrangements were made,
to the amazement of our own people and of
the world; brought the rebellion to a close.
We were in history more of a naval people ;
and in the war of 1812 had shown that, on the
ocean, we could maintain our cause against the
nation that boasted that its empire was on the
seas. Bat forty years had pissed away. We
had but one naval• school, and some of the
ablest graduates'of the school were among the
rebels. We had almost no ships of war; and
what we had were dispersed in distant seas.
But suddenly, as if by magic, a new navy arose
sufficient to guard a longer maratime coast than
had ever before been placed under blockade ;
a navy that was new in its character to the
world, and that seemed to change at once the
whole character of naval warfare—rendering
all the wooden vessels of war that all Europe
could send to our waters, by sail or by steam,
useless.
(c) But, after all, it is chiefly, I apprehend,
in regard to diplomacy that we have secured
the respect of the world. The history of this
war is yet to be written, when the passions of
men are calmer than they are now, and
when the real causes which have most con
tributed to the result shall be better under
stood. Then, I apprehend, it will be found
that the most remarkable things of the war
have not been those which have occurred on
the battle-field or on the ocean ; that the high
est talent which has been evinced has not been
by those in the army or the navy, and amidst
the thunder of battle • but in the quiet scenes of
deliberation in the 'Capitol ; in the peaceful
roam where despatches to foreign powers haye
been thought out and prepared. There is at
least one name that will go into his
tory, not, as many supposed by The side
of Metternich and Talleyraad, but by the
side of Burke and Canning.; one life aimed
at by the rebellion, but preserved by the mar
vellous providence of God, of value to the
nation only less than that which was success
fully stricken down. He lives; and his de
spatches will live as Jong as men shall choose
to preserve the records of far-seeing sagacify;
of firmness In maintaining great prmeiples; of
honorable concessions when they could be
made with truth;_ and of successful efforts to
maintain peace with foreign powers—to make
them afraid to go to war when they were ready
to rush into the conflict; to head off; and to
check, all efforts wade to secure a recognition
of the insurgent confederacy by the feeblest or
the greatest of the foreign powers, when all the
arts of Southern men, the ablest that they had,
were employed to 'secure it ; when all the in
terests of an enlarged and profitable commerce
seemed to prompt to it; when•all the desire of
our division and ruin would have been gratified
by it; and when, unless checked and restrained,
foreign powers would at once have recognized
the organized rebellion as in fact a government
among the other governments of the earth.
For the great question was how to prevent
the recognition of the Southern Confederacy by
those powers, and how, at the same time that
this was done, peace could be preserved
with those powers; how to adjust the difficult
points that must come up, in the circumstances,
with foreign powers disposed to make such a
recognition, and disposed to favor the in
surgents so as to prevent war with those
powers. It was done. Forthwith, on the
breaking out of the rebellion, its emissaries
were sent abroad to secure a recognition
of their government and the co-operation of
foreign powers ; and abroad they found, as they
hoped, a disposition to recognize them, and
when that was not yet done, to aid them by •
their sympathy, and to furnish them materials
for the prosecution of the purposes of the re
bellion, despite all friendly assurances to the
United States, and in violation of all the prin
ciples of professed neutrality, and in such a
manner as would ; in other circumstances, have
led to a war with the United States. But
before those emissaries could reach the seats of
foreign governments, every such government
had been apprised of the manner in which such
a recognition would be regarded by the - United
States, and every foreign - minister from our
country had been instructed to lay the case be
fore such governments. The causes of the in
surrection; the influence of slavery in produ
cing it ; the spirit which animated it ; the policy
of the North the hopelessness of the rebellion ;
the evils of disunion to other nations as-well as
to oar own ; the certain consequences of such
recognition, with all the appeals that 'could be
made as drawn from the past intercourse of the
United States with those powers, and their
friendly relations, had been fairly laid before
such governments, . and not without effect.
Wherever the emissaries of the so-called. Con- I
federacy' should go, to Prussia, England,
France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Russia,
Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Italy,
Rome, Turkey, yea, to the government of the
Hawaiian Islands, they would find, and did find,
that such representations had preceded them.*
I venture to say that the history of diplomacy
does not furnish an instance of greater ability
than is to be found in the instructions sent forth
to the embassadors to foreign powers within
two months after the organization of the South
ern Confederacy, and in future times the in
structions of the-Secretary of State, for wisdom,
for sagacity, for earnest and powerful argumen
tations, and for successful appeal, will be re
garded as among the ablest State papers that
the world has produced. And in every difficult
question—and they were many—that occurred
wish foreign powers in the progress of the war;
in collisions of opinion that threatened war ; in
the highly excited feelings of our own country
men and the people abroad ; in matters which
it seemed impossible to adjust without a con
flict; when preparations by England were
actipally made for war, and. troops were em
barlisd, and ships of war were fitted out, the
same keen sagacity ; the same sober judgment ;
the same power of argumentation ; -the- same
foresight of what was likely to occur; the same
readiness to yield when we were manifestly in
I the wrong, and the same firm determination not
to yield when we were in the right; the same
wise statesmanship—saved us from collision;
maintained the honor of the nation ; forestalled
and prevented all attempts at the recognition of
the Southern Confederacy, and preserved
peace, through those years of fearful civil strug
gle, with all the nations of the earth. As the
result of this statesmanship, we are at peace
with all nations now, and have now no question
with any which may not be adjusted without are
sort to arms. At any period of the struggle it
would have been easy to plunge the nation into
a war with England—and there were excited
feelings enough there and at home to have sus
tained both governments in such a war; at
numerous important junctures in the progress
of our own conflicts, a different course on the
part of the Government would have made such
a war inevitable.
For such acts of statesmanship, and such re
sults, not less than for the bravery of the men
in battle, and the skill of those who command
ed our armies, we should this day render thanks,
and while the military skill which led to the ulti
mate surrender of the rebel armies should never
be forgotten ; the ability which kept us in peice
with foreign nations—leaving nothing for our
victorious army and navy to do after the rebel
lion was quelled in settling foreign difficulties—
should be held in as lasting remembrance.
V. As a fifth reason for thanksgiving as the
result orthis fearful conflict, we have secured
ultimate complete liberty to the nation, and
are to be in every proper sense -a free people.
We have gained, or shall have gained, the ob
ject for which our fathers struggled, and which
they saw partially in what they had secured in
the war of Independence. Ultimately it may
be seen, if it is not now, that there was no other
mode by which that complete liberty could be
secured than by such a baptism of blood;"
ultimately it may be seen that it is worth all
which it has cost.
The liberty thus secured is of two kinds :
liberty for those who before regarded them
selves as free, but who were under a rigid bond
age; liberty for enslaved millions.
(a) We have secured liberty for those who
regarded themselves as free, but who were, in
fact, subjected to an inexorable bondage:—
liberty at last, of travel; liberty of speech; lib
erty of conscience; liberty in the post-bffice ar
rangements ; liderty of debate ; liberty in legis
lation ; liberty in the administration ofjustice ;
liberty in religion.
We indeed boasted that we were free, and
we proclaimed it to distant lands. But there
were the shackles of an ignoble servitude upon
us, in all the great interests of justice, humanity,
travel, speech, religion.
Slavery ruled the land—alike controlling the
bond and the free. It prevented freedom of
travel and of speech ; it muzzled the press,
secular and religious; it bro wbeat men who
were disposed to utter the sentiments of justice
and humanity ; it controlled the commerce of
the country; it formed the opinions of manu
facturers and merchants ; it struck dumb the
Ministers of religion ; it• dictated to ministers
what they should preach and how they should
pray, to professors in seminaries of learning
and religion what they should teach, and to
judges on the bench, and to jurymen in the
box, what verdict should be rendereffi it con
trolled General Assemblies, and edelesidstical
councils, and conventions in the ChurCh—alike
the Presbyterian, the Episcopal, the Methodist,
the Baptist, and partially the Congregational 5
it drove away men seeking an honest liveli
hood in teaching, or engaged in the peace
ful pursuits of commerce 3 it controlled the
post-office, dictating what might, and what
might not be sent in the mails it formed or
modified the judgments of the Supreme Court
of the land; it suppressed by the terror of the
pistol, the bowie-knife, or the club, freedom of
debate in the halls of legislation; it framed
laws for the Congress of the nation to enact,
and for the President of the United States to
sign; it prostrated with a murderous weapon
the man who in the Senate Chamber dared to
utter the sentiments of liberty. Was this a land
of freedom?
.The land was not free. But now it is free.
The dividing line of the States—separatingfree
and slave territory, has been obliterated. We
may travel where we please ; we, may form our
plans of business, of commerce, of manufac
tures, without reference to the question how
they are to affect the interests of slavery; we
may utter our sentiments without .fear; we may
form our opinions, preach our sermons, pro
nounce our verdicts, frame our laws, conduct
our debates in our ecclesiastical bodies, publish
our books, and transmit our letters through the
mails, as freemen should. The language of
freedom may at Mt be uttered in the Senate
Chamber, and on the beach of highest justice,
and they who utter it are safe. The most ter
rible despotism after all is not that which binds
*Massage and Doonments, 1861-2. Part 1., pp. 82-
416.
the limbs of men; it is that which controls
their speech, their thoughts, their instruction
of the young, their judgments in reference
to liberty, to property, to life, to religion.
The highest liberty is that which permits men
to go where they please; to think what they
choose; to utter what they regard as true; to
form their plans without dictation ; td pro
nounce judgments in courts that shall be in ac
cordance with the law and with fact ; to frame
such laws as the best interests of the nation de
mand ; to utter the truth of God in the pulpit,
without being cowed or awed, and to use before
God in prayer the utterances of humanity,
equality, and justice. Such liberty we shall
henceforth enjoy, and for this let us unfeignedly
thank God.
(b) In connection with the war, and as the
result of the war, liberty has been secured to
those who. 'were held in bondage, and hencefor
ward we are to take our place as a free nation
among the other free nations of the earth, and
,
to carry out, in the fulness of their meaning,
the doctrines of the Declaration of Independ
ence.
(1) This is the result of the war; and, so far
as we can see, it was only by such a war that
the emancipation of the four millions of the
enslaved could be effected. For provisions had
been introduced into the very Constitution for
protecting slavery ; it was held to be a mat
ter pertaining to the States alone, with which
the General Government could, not interfere;
it was fortified by the laws; it was sustained by
the Church; it was defended as a divine insti
tution; it had secured enactments in its favor
odious to humanity and to the spirit of liberty;
it controlled the Government; it was spreading
into vast States and Territories ; it had secured,
at last, from the Supreme Court, all that it de
manded, in the most revolting declaration that
ever fell from the lips of one exalted to high
judicial 'authority, in the utterance of the late
Chief Justice of the United States : that negroes
"are not included, and were never intended to
be included, under the word citizens' in the
Constitution, and can, therefore, claim none of
the rights and privileges which that instrument
provides for and secures to the citizens of the
United Stile's'," and "that they had, for more
than a century before, been regarded as beings
of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to as- •
sociate with the white race, either in social or
political relations ; and so far inferior, that they
had no rights which .the white man was bound
to respect; and that the negro might justly and
lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit."*
The war was not commenced with any pur
pose of emancipation, or of interfering with
slavery. It was by the purpose of God, and
not by the purpose of man that emancipation
was contemplated. Mr. Lincoln expressly
avowed, at the beginning of his administration,
that it was no part of the purpose of the Gov
, ernment to interfere with slavery. He then
proposed a scheme of •colonization—on which
the nation looked coldly.f He then proposed
to Congress an amendment to the Constitution,
for compensated emancipation to be made vol
untarily by the States before the year 1899,f
to' which the Congress paid no attention. He
then declared that the Union must be preserved
with. slavery if it 'could be ; without slavery if
that became necessary . .:' , VEe then, as a military
necessity, as derniiided',lsi Isis apprehension,
for the preserVittiiin of tfte:' Union, issued the
proclamation of emancipation. The armies
carried -freedom with them. Freedom, in fact,
became a necessity. The territories were free.
The District of Columbia was made free. The
fugitive slave law, enacted to support slavery,
became useless, and the odious law was re
moved from the statute books. The Congress
proposed to the States an amendment to the
Constitution, forbidding slavery in any of the
States or Territories, and it is now ratified, and
the very last recognition of slavery left in the
Constitution will then soon be removed ; and
as a nation we shall be free.
(2) The whole work is not yet accomplished,'
but it will be. It is not the work of a day, or
a year, or perhaps a generation, to emancipate
in reality four millions of slaves; to change the
habits of a people which had been forming for
generations under the influence of slavery ; to
elevate the slave so that he shall take his proper
place among freemen ;to " emancipate the
master so that he shall himself be freed from
the shackles which slavery had thrown around
him ; to lead him to:do justice to him whoni he
had - oppressedl, tolabor himself.; to honor
labor; and to engage in those enterprises which
belong to freedom, and which have made the
North what it is. We should not be impatient
if the enslaved man is not suddenly elevated ; if
the old master cherishes still many of his
former views; if there is a disposition still to
withhold the rights due to all men ; if there are
agitations, excitements, and even insurrections
in the States where slavery lila' prevailed ; if
there should be a longing look to the times
when a man could control the labors of hun
dreds of others—could himself be idle, sup
ported by their toil—could pride himself on
their being his property—could selithem—and
could walk over thousands of acres cultivated
by others, and feel that those acres, and those
men, and all that the one produced and the other
earned, was his own. Customs and habits long
formed ; social views long . established ; modes
of doing things long practiced ; and theoretical
convictions in domestic economy, in ilpolitics,
and in religion, are not soon changed, even by
the stern and dreadful instructions of war—
and the nation should not be impatient, nor
should foreign nations chide us, if time is taken
to settle these difficult questions; to determine
in our own minds even what are proper ideas
of liberty; and to adjust the condition of the
former slave to society, to the Constitution,
and to the Church.
(3) Yet though the work is net yet accom
plished, and time may be necessary to secure
it, it will be done, and the nation will come up,
iu reference to slaves and to all men, to just
ideas of liberty—slowly, it may be, must be,
but certainly, to the doctrine of EQUAL RIGHTS :
to the doctrine (a) that each and every person
has a right to pursue his own chosen calling as
he pleases; (b) that each one has a right to go
where he pleases, and to ' dwell where he
pleases ; (c) that each one has a right to ex
press his own opinion on all subjects, subject only
to the just restraints respecting the character
and conduct of others; (d) that each one is to
enjoy liberty of conscience, and to worship
God as he pleases, with only the restraint that
he shall not disturb the peace of society ; (e)
that each one shall enjoy the avails of his own
labor, his own talent, ingenuity, professional
skill, in all the work of his hands, in all
inventions in art, in all discoveries in ,sci
ence, and in all literary productions' subject
only to the claim which the Government shall
have for its support, and the community for its
advancement in science, literature, civilization,
and the arts; (f) that each one shall be placed
before the law on an equality in inventive en
dowments, and in literature, with no favoritism
to any from rank, from color, or from blood;
(g) that each one shall be allowed to make the
most of himself, by honest effort, if he has ge
nius, talent, eloquence; that he shall be allow
ed to place himself in as high a social position
as he can, by the accumulation of wealth, by
personal worth, by grace of manners, and by a
cultivated mind and heart, with no barrier de
rived from his ancestry or the hue of his skin;
and (h) that each one shall be put on the same
level as each other one, in his relation to the
government of his country, with no disqualifi
cation in regard to votes or office which does
not equally apply to all others ; with no distinc
tion unfavorable to himself as derived from his
religion, his origin, his employment, his color,
rank, or complexion. This is liberty ; and to
this view all things tend.
(4) When this is reached it will be a gain
alike to the North and the South that we have
gone through this fearful struggle. Our whole
country will be the richer an4,.the happier; will
occupy a higher position in the eye of the world,
and in the eye of God. For; no nation ever
* Quoted from the Westminster It evief for July,
186.5, pp. 28, 29.
tAnnual Message, 1861. Messago, and ..ikeuments,
1861-2. Part I, pp. 14, 15. #
Annual Message, 1862.` Message and Diaitments
1862-3. Part I. pp. 15-23.
yet was impoverished by the abolition of
slavery, no matter how, or from what motives,
or by what causes, it was done. The Roman
empire, Germany, England, all have risen in
wealth, in civilization, in happiness, as slavery
has been abolished, as Russia will from this
time onward. It is no loss to the South
that the slaves are emancipated, and no one
can have any sympathy with the States as
a whole, in the removal of slavery, what
ever we may have for individuals in the im
mediate distress and poverty that have come
upon them. They estimate their losses in the
emancipation of their slaves as more than four
thousand million of dollars, a sum equal to the
whole national debt created bythe war. There
has been no such loss; there has been no
loss. Ultimately the gain to them from
these acts of emancipation will be many
times more in the real wealth of their own
country than all this alleged loss. The South
in this rebellion intended no such thing. They
carried on the war with no expectations that
the relations of slavery would be disturbed.
They hoped—they expected—to establish a
government founded on slavery as the corner
stone. But if it had been a stroke of deep
policy ; if they had been actuated by the mere
views of a Neckar; if they had asked in what
way they could best promote the wealth of their
portion of the United States—could place
themselves on a level with the North ; could
in their comforts, and the value of their farms,
raise themselves to a higher level in regard
to civilization and religion ; could increase their
schools, enlarge their commerce, and place
themselves abreast of the rest of mankind, they
could not have done a better thing than to bring
on thii war :—for though the results of the war
will not blot out the crime of treason, or raise
the slaughtered dead from their graves, or dry
up the tears that have been shed, yet this will
be worth to them more than all the estimated
value of their slaves. For they were a burden
to them, and the " institution" was a curse, an
incumbrance, a dead weight that sunk them
down and crushed them. It is liberty; liberty
to all, that makes a nation prosperous and
great.
And a new career, when they shall have re
covered from the shocks and
~the calamities of
the war, will be before the South. With a cli
mate and soil far superidr to the North ; with
ample mineralresources; with rivers and. streams
and bays and harbors adapted to commerce;
with easy access to all the nations of the
earth; with the necessary outlet of the great
West in their hands ; with a capability in regard
to the
..productions of the soil far beyond the
productions of the North, nothing henceforward
will prevent that glorious career for them and
for us, for which they and we, in Union, not in
separate confederacies, or under jarring govern
ments, were destined by the arrangements of
Providence—that we might be one United Re
public—an example to all the world of the value
of free institutions, and of the ability of man,
under the Divine blessing, and by obedience to
the laws of God, for self-government. And.
now, for all these things, let us this day nn
,feignedly thank God.
A PHILADELPHIA PASTORATE, with
one •exception, the only vacant one in
our connexion within the bounds of the
city, is about to be filled. It is that of
the Logan Square Church, late Rev. Dr.
Patton's, which has, with entire =till-
imity, extended a call to Rev. J. W. E.
Ker, which it is understood he will ac
cept. Mr. Ker's present ecclesiastical
connexion is with the Old School Church,
but he will be among us a genial broth
er, giving and receiving confidence.
Movements inSan-Franeisco.—The Pa
cific speaks of an unusual degree of religious
interest in San Francisco, both on the part
of Christiansawl . others. The Young Men's
Association is in a state of activity,
and is making itself felt as a power for good.
The annual series of sermons under its auspi
ces has begun, the first having been delivered
by Rev. Dr. Cooper, of the United Presbyte
rian Mission. It is expected that the pastors
of the evangelical churches generally will take
their turn in this service, and it is also ex
pected the leading feature of these discourses
will be a directness to the point of awakening
Christians, and leading sinners to the Lamb
of God.
Items.—The United Brethren in Oregon
are engaged in a new enterprise—the found--
ing of a college on Mary's River, five miles
from Corvalis. Over $lB,OOO have thus far
been subscribed.—The chaplain of the U.
S. Naval Asylum, located in this city, is
making an effort to procure a good library for
the hospital connected with the institution.
The number of sick and wounded marines,
sent in from the fleets, and present at one
time, averages one hundred and fifty.. They
generally remain under treatment from three
to six months.—A daily five o'clock prayer
meeting has been commenced at the rooms of
the Young Men's Christian Association, of
Boston. A daily meeting at 1f o'clock has
also been opened in the vestry of the Han
over Street Methodist Church.
SEWING MACHINES,
HAftalsßuitia, October 9, 1865.—Messrs.
Willcox & Gibbs Sewing_Machine Company,
No. 720 Chestnut street, Philadelphia:—Gen
tlemen:—ln company with some of my lady
Mends, I visited your establishment some six
weeks since, • while on a general tour of in
spection, designing to purchase whichever
Sewing Machine my own judgment approved
as best adapted to the requirements of a large
family. To be candid, I was exceedingly pre
judiced against all s i ngle thread machines
but having learned that yours made a twisted
loop stitch, which renders the sewing effectual
and strodg, I determined not to pass it by . ,
but examine it, if possible, with an unbiassed
mind. It so happened that I called at your
office first of all, and while there took occa
sion to ask what you thought of certain other
machines. Your reply, that they were
"well represented," and that you desired to
make "no comparisons," proved that you en
tertained no dishonorable feeling of petty
jealousy towards your rivals in business. My
favorable impressions were still further
strengthened, when a little later I listened,
with perfect disgust, to a studied and system
atic abuse of your machines by persons un
worthy to be called your competitors. They
seemed to fear that you would do your full
share, or more, of business, unless they could
by some means counteract your influence. I
then and there concluded that I would buy
none other than your " Single-thread Ma
chine," as it was styled in derision. I there
fore returned to your office and selected one
of your lately improved machines, with the
work-box enclosure, for which I paid you
sixty-eight dollars—the best spent money of all
my life. I received no instruction, but read
ily learned from your book of directions all
that I could wish to know, and noiv feel per
fectly competent to do all the household sew
ing. I I'm particularly expert in tie use of
the Hemmer,Feller, Braider, Tucker, etc. I
have subjectd the sewing to the severest pos
sible test, and am fully persuaded that it will
never yield, either in washing; ironing or in
actual wear. I have already influenced three
of my friends to purchase your machines,
because I believe them to be the very best for
all—family sewing especially. Mine is so
quiet in its movements, that it never disturbs
o mversation ; in fact, it can scarcely be heard
at all, while it is the most rapid sewer I ever
saw. Truly, the half was not told me of the
merits of your wonderful machines..
Enclosed, I hand you a draft on New York
for fifty-five dollars, for which you will please
ship by express to my sister, Mrs. Eliza C.
Ritter, Carlisle, Pa., one of your plain table
machines, and thus greatly oblige,
Yours, very truly,
MRS. C. A. CROWELL.
[From the Economist.]
A SILENT SEWING MACHINE.
Blessed in the memory of all true house
wives will ever be the inventor of the sewing
machine. He is a universal benefactor, 'who
hasAnade easy, pleasant and an hundred fold
profitable one of the most important duties
of woman—to sew. He also has added lustre
to the dignity of labor. Once ladies " gave
out" their sewing to the seamstress and
dress-maker, and few, since the day of Our
grandmothers, were seen with the needle
hand, and either mending or making up a
garment. But now the handsomest ornament
of a room is the rosewood or walnut-cased,
sewing machine, and the prettiest adornment
of it is the charming face am! nowy fingers
of the "lady of the house," ‘, d et,
busy at the wheel, braiding, embroidering
and "running the breadths" nil a new dress..
The choice of a machine in this day of new
patents and multiplied improvements is a.
question of great importance, and, to many,
very difficult of settlement. Every patent
has its excellences, and each well established
firm puts in Claim for advantages in their pe
culiar machine, possesed over all competitors,
and, indeed, it must be admitted that some
of the more prominent are worthy the pat
ronage they receive, and well adapted to the
purposes of the invention.
But for a real, genuine, family machine, a
time saver, thread saver, labor saver, the
women of our house say, after making trial
of one or two other different binds,. "Give
us the Willcox & Gibbs." When it had
been in the house a couple of weeks, "the
girls" fairly got enthusiastic over it, and we
didn't know but it would prove the dearest
instead of the cheapest in the market, for
they were " running' the machine" all day,
without regard to cost; 'while cotton kept at
18a20c. a spool.
The superiority of this machine is very ap
parent on a practical test. Its simplicity is a
chief recommendation. An intelligent Miss
of fourteen can comprehend the whole modus
operandi, and work it in two hours. It is an
objection to most of the machines of other
patents, that they require so much time and
skill to learn to operate on them. After the
practice of months, or at least weeks, a lady
of perseverance may attain something of_pro
fmency in the use of one of them, but Will
cox & Gibbs is so simple in its arrangement,,
and the movement is so exceedingly easy,,
that there is no difficulty in any person desir
ous of doing so, becoming expert in the use
of it in a very short time.
It is next to an impossibility for this machin•
to get out of order. This is no small merit,
for a machine that ever gets out of order is
always sure to be so, just at a time when we
can ill afford to be without its assistance!
This machine will turn only one way, and a
new beginner is, therefore, relieved from the
annoyance of breaking needles and tangling
;thread, incident to all other machines.
It is a standing objection to most other
machines that "they make too much noise;
the baby can't sleep, and the folks can't talk,
while the operator's ears are filled with the
rapid click, click, click of the wheel and
shuttle for hours after she has ceased her
work. Wilcox & Gibbs is a perfect cure-all
for this nuisance ; so noiseless .is it, that a
babe can sleep in the cradle close by the ma
chine, and the sound of the movement is not
heard acrosst he room.
It uses thread from the original spool, thus
saving the time and,labor of spooling off con
tinually to supply the bobbins. Its stitch iB•
a single thread, which is an advantage,
making a great saving in cotton, while its
compactness renders it stronger than the
fabric it sews together; which is all that can
be desired of either a double or single stitch.
On the whole, we are constrained,. after
close observation of the workings of different
machines for more than a year, to award the
palm of superiority to Messrs. Willcox At,
Gibbs, for the most complete article in all
its parts, and perfect in its operations,—a
family machine, adapted to sewing any num
ber of thicknesses from one to twenty folds
of sheeting muslin.
MARRIAGES,
JACOBY—BRANIN.—Dec. sth. by Rev. F. Hend
ricks, Mr. Benjamin F. Jacoby and Miss Maria E.,
daughter of Mr. Ashton A. Branin. all of Philadel
phia.
DEATHS.
oni[TWARY.
Died, on the morning of Thanksgiving Day, Dec.
7th, Mrs. CATHARINE D. SLOAN, wife of Mr. John P.
Sloan, of this city. She was for twenty years ame
ber of Pine Street Church; and though much seclu
ed, of late, by ill health, she preserved the cheerful
Patient, submissive spirit which best marks a tea*
Christianity. Losing an only ohild early in her mar
ried life, she did not allow the bereavement to maim
her selfishly unmindful of her remaining duties, but
cultivated a cheerfulness of disposition which shed a
radiance over her household under every trial. Those
who best knew her, appreciated her worth, and pag
the highest tribute to her character as a wife, a friend.
and a Christian.
K CROPPER,
MANUFACTURER OF
FINE. AND FANCY CAKES,
ICE CUBS AND JELLIES,
Southwest Corner of Nineteenth
and Wallace Streets.
MICE COMMIE FOR 1111 EILIM
Persons in Search of Superior hrticlag
will do well to apply.
SAMUEL W. HESS,
DEALER IN S '
THE BEST QUALITIES OF
LEHIGH, SCHUYLKILL AND BITUMINOUS
COAL.
All consumers should try his GENUINE EAGLE
VEIN, as it is the very best Coal in the market.
Orders by despatch or otherwise promptly attended
to at the CONTINENTAL COAL .DEPOT,
Nos. 203 and. 205 North Broad Street.
L. D. BASSETT,
DEALER IN
FINE CHEESE, GOSHEN BUTTER. CIDER,
VINEGAR, SWEET CIDER, CANNED
TOMATOES AND PEACHES,
WEIGHT'S SUPERIOR MINCED HEAT,
&C., &C.
NEW 12TH ST. MARKET,
N. E. Cor. of Twelfth and Market Sts.
"DON'T BE FOOLISH."
You can make Six Dollars and Fifty Cents. Call
and examine an invention urgently needed by every
body. Or a sample sent free by_mail. for 50 cents that
retails for $6, by R.L.W 0LC011.170 Chatham Square,
New York. 1017-ly